Unity vs Uniformity in the Church

There has been a huge push toward unity in the church over the past 40 years or so. People are tired of the numerous divisions and splits that seem to occur with increasing frequency within the church. And while some of our divisions involve important issues, such as whether or not Jesus was truly divine (He is) and whether or not God loves gays (He does, of course), a lot of church division seems to occur over stupid stuff, like what kind of music to play on Sunday morning, whether or not there should be donuts in the foyer, and what color the new carpet should be.

Personally, I don’t think all church splits are a bad thing. I don’t think that deciding to leave one group of people so that you can join with a different group is always bad. To some degree, this is just the way life is, and sometimes, these sorts of reorganizations are simply one way of keeping the peace. When we view all different denominations and types of churches as parts of the universal Body of Christ, we begin to see that we are not in competition with one another, but are simply different parts of the same Body working in unison toward a common goal. I’ve written about this before in my post: The Church is Broken? Nope.

Of course, there does not always seem to be a whole lot “unison toward a common goal.” Instead, there is a lot of name calling, finger pointing, back stabbing, and heretic burning. I fully admit that I have engaged in a fair bit of this myself over the years. And I sometimes still do. I’m guilty too.

But here is what I am trying to come to recognize: Unity is not the same thing as uniformity.

I believe we can have unity within the church without uniformity. In fact, since there can never be true uniformity in all things, the only way to achieve unity is to recognize, accept, and celebrate our diversity.

Maybe some quick definitions are in order.

Unity vs Uniformity

Unity is when we are one. We are of one mind, spirit, purpose, mission, and goal.

Uniformity is when we all believe the same thing and practice the same thing. We are uniform in our beliefs and behaviors.

I think that in general, all Christians everywhere are in unity. We have one Spirit, the Spirit of God. We have one purpose, to glorify God. We have one mission, to spread the good news about Jesus Christ. We have one goal, to lift up the name of Jesus and live like Him in this world.

Yet despite this unity, there is no uniformity whatsoever on how to do these things, what it looks like, or where and when to do these things.

Just take the “gospel” we are supposedly in unity about. Regarding the gospel, we cannot agree on the the definition and message of the gospel we are to proclaim! We cannot agree on who gets to proclaim it, or to whom it should be proclaimed, or what should happen after we proclaim it. There is even disagreement in some circles on what we should wear when we proclaim the gospel and what Bible translation we should use. Let’s be honest: It gets quite ridiculous.

Unity Without Uniformity

I think it is possible — even desirable — to have unity without uniformity.

It is possible to have unity within the church only if we give up on uniformity. Unity is a Godly goal; uniformity is not.

I can be happy that that certain members of my Christian family like Southern Gospel music even though it makes me want to cut my ears off. I don’t think that they should like my kind of music (which is pretty much no music at all) to be real Christians, and I hope they can extend the same grace toward me despite our lack of uniformity.

Similarly, though I am not a big fan of sitting in a pew on Sunday morning and calling that “church,” I know that for many people, this is an important part of the way they follow Jesus. Since this used to be essential for me as well, I understand where they are coming from, and can be in unity with them regardless of our differences in how we try our best to follow Jesus. I hope they can extend the same grace toward me despite our lack of uniformity.

I could go on and talk about my Calvinist friends, or those who think women should be silent in church, or those who vote democrat. I may disagree with these perspectives quite passionately, but in the end, I choose to put aside my differences and love others for the sake of unity in Christ, not expecting them to become a clone of me, and hoping that they do not expect me to fall into step behind them.

It is exactly this unity without diversity which best expressed the love of Jesus, and which paves the way for us to invite the world into our midst. The world, I believe, wants to follow Jesus, but they are not sure they want to become “Christians.” If we can open up our arms and say, “No problem! There is room among Jesus followers for all kinds of Christians,” this sort of loving unity would go a long way in glorifying God, spreading the good news about Jesus Christ, and living like Him in this world.

So do you want Christian unity? Begin by recognizing, encouraging, and celebrating our immense diversity.

This post was part of the April Synchroblog, where various bloggers all write on the same topic. Below is a list of the other contributors this month:

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Comments

What you said here is all summed up in the scriptures……… “Love God with all your heart,and with all your soul,and with all your strength, and with all your mind ; and love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Jesus (Luke 10:27)

“My command is this: that you love one another as I have loved you.” ~ Jesus (John 15:12)

We would all do well to Read Romans chapter 14…especially Romans 14:3-4 and apply it to ourlives and our walk with Jesus !

Rom.14:3 “The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not,and the one that does not eat everything must not judge the one who does,for God has accepted them.”

Rom.14:4 “:Who are you to judge another mans servant for to his own master(Christ) a servant stands or falls. And they shall stand,for the Lord is able to make them stand.”

I have been thinking about this issue a lot recently. I was raised trinitarian, I know some who are unitarian and just heard of the Jesus’ name viewpoint (sorry to display my ignorance). I suspect that there could well be sharply worded, accusatory “discussions” between these groups. However, I further suspect, that all would agree on the Biblical statement that Jesus is the Son of God. When we go beyond that simple, straightforward statement, we get into division/sectarianism. In discussions that I have had and talking with others who have had similar discussions different groups will use the same “proof texts” to prove their divergent views!

I wonder if we can agree on what the scriptures say and not spend so much time arguing on what the implications are. If we are each parts of the same body, is it not possible that the Spirit of God applies the scriptures to each of us in an exquisitely individual manner. When we read “Love one another” one may be impelled to visit those in prison, another to feed homeless, others to show grace to those who, like us, do not deserve grace.

Sorry to go on so long about this and I’m not sure where all this leads. But, it does seem to me that the sectarianism and divisiveness we see in the “Christian” world does little to advance the kingdom of God and gives ample fodder for critics to feed on and use against us.

Jeremy, if you don’t think this comment is appropriate, feel free not to approve for publication. I just wanted to respond to your cogent blog post.

I wish we all spent more time obeying the Scriptures instead of arguing about them, but sometimes, we argue about them so that we can know what they say, so that we know how to obey. I am still coming to terms on all this myself…. We are all works in progress.